6 Tips for Balancing College and Your Startup Dreams

Gone are the days when every college-goer dreamed of a job in a Multinational Corporation. Now, everyone wants to pursue their real dreams and be an entrepreneur. This entrepreneurial pursuit has made India become the land of budding entrepreneurs. So, if you are thinking of balancing college and your startup dreams, here are 6 tips that will help.

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1. Utilize Your College Resources

There won’t be another time in your life where you have complete access to all resources you need (academic, technical and advisory) right at your fingertips. A lot of entrepreneurial competitions and conferences are held in college to ignite the entrepreneurial spark in students. The onus is on you to make use of them and gain publicity for your idea.

2. Make Studies and Your Startup Idea Mutually Inclusive

You don’t have to view studies and your startup idea as two completely different things. Try to make them inclusive. For example, if you are studying engineering, take some marketing and business classes just to have a broad understanding of what is needed in the business world.

3. Find the Right Partners

At any point of time in college, you are surrounded by a lot of bright, curious and like-minded people who share the same passion and drive as you. It is important that you choose the right partners to work on your dream. College is the right time to experiment with partnerships for your startup.

4. Make time to Work on Your Idea

With classes, assignments and exams college can get hectic at times that you don’t find time to work on your idea. It is good to set aside a few hours every week to work on your dream and keep that entrepreneurial fire burning.

5. Stay Focused

It is a lot easier to get swayed away by other seemingly interesting things in college. But remember, to be a successful entrepreneur you have to stay focused and make sacrifices. Never let you dream die within you – stay motivated.

6. Don’t be Afraid to Fail

Almost all first ventures fail, some very miserably. But that doesn’t mean that you are not a good entrepreneur. Every time you fall, pick something up. Experiences will make you a better person and failure is the best teacher. Finally, college is the best time to give things a try.

Take pride in your idea and stand by it even if others don’t believe in it. You may fail, but make sure you get up and keep going. Life is about winning the war, not every battle.